


Close As Strangers

by orphan_account



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Cashton is just side, Emotional Abuse, First Kiss, Homophobic Slurs, I don't wanna spoil anything so the rest will be triggers, M/M, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-04
Updated: 2014-08-04
Packaged: 2018-02-11 17:43:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2077260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I'm really bad at descriptions but basically they're in high school and Luke is living with Michael and everyone is best friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I set this in October but I guess it doesn’t really matter when you picture it. I put Calum, Luke, and Michael in the same grade by accident and I didn’t notice until I had written too much to change it so sorry about that. Characterization is probably pretty bad, I think it’s my weak spot. Also I am a simple Canadian girl so I have no idea how Australia works haha.

_W/C: 1722_

Michael lived by three simple rules:  
1) There’s no such thing as too much pizza,  
2) Always choose a booth over a table,  
3) Love is bullshit.  
Obviously, he listened to other important rules like ‘no means no,’ and ‘don’t shove your wallet into an epileptic person’s mouth,’ but everyone knew those. His rules were just that; his. So he lived his life. He woke up, recited his rules, ate breakfast,went to school, talked to Calum, hated Luke, failed at maths, went home, and laid in bed until his mum called him upstairs for dinner.  
His mum would say, “How was school today, Mikey?”  
He would reply, “Same as yesterday.”  
They would eat the rest of their dinner in silence and when Michael was finished, he put his dishes in the sink and went straight back into his room.  
  
  
Of course, he didn’t just _sit_ in his room in the dark like some emo kid. He could almost always be found on his laptop, looking at pictures of cats or watching some dumb youtube video. If he wasn’t on his laptop, he was listening to music on his iPod and maybe playing air guitar. If he wasn’t doing either of those things, he was probably just sleeping.  
  
  
Michael walked to school one day, expecting a regular old simple day. He walked past Luke’s house, cursing the kid out in his head. It was a regular day.  
There was shouting, then a crash. Michael’s head jerked to look over at Luke’s house. The younger boy ran out the front door, blood dripping down his arm and his mother looking after him, shouting, “You’re useless! A worthless _faggot_ of a kid! I wish you were never born! Never come back home, you fucking queer! Your shit will be at the garage after school and I never want to see you again!”  
It was not a regular day.  
Michael rushed to the now crying boy, thinking _I have to help this sad boy_ and not thinking _he hates me and I hate him_ , because when someone is crying and bleeding, you push away your personal problems, it’s an unwritten rule.  
“Are you okay?” Michael asked, walking slowly beside the bleeding boy.  
“I’ll be fine. Leave me alone.”  
“I don’t think you’re going to be fine. Please come back to my place. It’s only a two minute walk and then my mum can drive us to school. That cut needs to be bandaged.” Luke didn’t say anything, just looked up at Michael with red-rimmed eyes and nodded.  
  
  
They arrived at Michael’s house exactly two minutes later and Michael ignored his mother’s questions, instead leading Luke to the washroom and grabbing hydrogen peroxide, cotton balls, Polysporin, and gauze. “This is going to sting,” Michael warned before pouring some of the hydrogen peroxide on a cotton ball and dabbing the gash. Luke’s eyes welled up and he bit his lip harshly, trying not to make a sound as he felt the cut fizzing under the chemicals. Michael whispered a soft, “sorry,” before putting Polysporin on the wound and covering it with gauze. Neither boys brought up what happened as they walked out to ask Michael’s mother for a ride to school.  
The car ride was silent other than the two “thank you”’s throw at Michael’s mum when they arrived. Luke looked at Michael, saying a quiet, “thank you very much,” before running to his locker.  
Calum immediately walked up to Michael, “Did I just see Luke Hemmings come out of your mum’s car with you?” He asked.  
“Yeah. Something happened. It doesn’t matter.”  
“Do you still hate each other?”  
“I dunno.”  
  
  
Michael and Luke had maths together. It was probably why Michael was so bad at it, as he spent the whole class sending Luke lasers through his eyes. This class, however, was different. Luke sat next to Michael instead of across the room from him. “Hey,” he mumbled. Michael ignored him and pushed his pencil into his notebook. “I know you hate me or whatever, but just...thanks. Again,” Luke said, voice slightly trembling.  
Michael waited two seconds before whispering, “Do you, like, wanna talk about it? Or Something?”  
Luke looked at him, obviously surprised, before saying, “Not…not here.” Michael simply nodded.  
  
  
Michael led Luke to his regular lunch table, watching as his best friend’s jaw dropped. “Are you cool with Cal being here?” He asked Luke. The smaller boy just nodded, sitting across from Michael, who sat next to Calum.  
“Why is he here?” Cal asked.  
Michael ignored him, “What happened with your mum?”  
Luke took a deep breath before saying, “I guess she just. Well. She didn’t like that I kinda. Like boys too. She threw a fucking _lamp_ at me and...you heard the rest.”  
Calum looked at Michael, shock and confusion obvious in his eyes, “What’s he talking about?”  
“I’ll tell you later,” Michael said before turning back to Luke and saying, “do you have somewhere to stay? If not, you can stay with me. If you want.”  
Luke didn’t look away from his hands as he mumbled out, “That would be great. Thanks.”  
  
  
In history later that day, Calum sat next to Michael as usual and scribbled out a note:  
 **'wtf was tht w luke i thought u hated him'**  
Michael replied with, **‘when i was walkin 2 school i watched his mum kick him out the house n shit!!’**  
 **‘y r u so chummy’**  
 **‘i took him back 2 my plc n cleaned the cut’**  
 **‘y’**  
 **‘bc its the right thing 2 do’**  
 **‘ok’**  
 **‘do ur work’**  
  
  
Calum had already planned to go to Michael’s that day, just to play video games and just _hang out,_ the only difference was that this time Luke was going to be there. So, after school, both Cal and Luke followed Michael back to his house. They walked in the front door and Michael’s mum called out to him, saying, “Hey Mikey! Is Cal with you?”  
“Yeah. Also Luke, that boy from this morning.”  
Michael’s mum went silent for a moment before saying, “Will you come here for a sec?”  
Michael walked to where his mother was sitting in the living room, “What’s up?”  
“Who is that kid?”  
“Luke Hemmings.”  
“You mean the one you hate?”  
 _“Hated._ He’s going to be staying over for a couple of days, okay?”  
“Why?” Michael’s mum asked, surprise obvious in her voice.  
“Because his mom kicked him out of the house and I saw it happen and I said he could stay with us. Is that okay?” Michael’s mum simply nodded and told him to be on his way to entertain his friends.  
Michael walked downstairs to his bedroom, but stopped at his door to listen to Calum and Luke talking.  
“I always thought you looked like a cool dude, but Michael hated you so I thought we couldn’t be friends,” Cal admitted. Michael felt like a bit of a dick.  
“It’s okay. I thought I wasn’t cool enough to be friends with you anyway,” Luke replied.  
When Calum didn’t reply, Michael decided to spare the boys an awkward silence and entered the room. “Luke do you wanna see the guest room now so you can drop your stuff off?” He offered, extending a hand to help the younger boy up. Luke nodded and was led to a room that was plain white with a red comforter and gold sheets. He dropped his stuff on the floor and decided to unpack after dinner, following Michael out the room and back to where Calum was.  
“So Luke,” Cal began, earning the attention of both blond boys, “you said you liked boys _too?_ What’s that mean?”  
“What?”  
“Well, are you bisexual? Pansexual? Demisexual? What are you?”  
Before Luke can even _think_ of an answer, Michael cuts in, “you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. Calum is just _nosy.”_  
“No, it’s fine! Um. I’m bi,” he laughed, “I’ve never even heard of those other ones.”  
“Oh yeah there’s _tonnes_ of sexualities!” Calum said excitedly, “for example, Mikey i-”  
“Cal, shut up,” Michael hissed. Luke looked at the two boys, obviously curious.  
“C’mon, Michael! He’s our new friend and we know about him! It’s only fair!”  
“If you don’t feel comfortable, it’s cool,” Luke said quietly. Michael looked down at his lap and remained silent.  
“Ugh! Whatever,” Cal sighed, “anyway I’m gay but I’m sure you know that, wanna play CoD?” Luke nodded, smiling as Calum handed him a controller.  
  
  
Two hours later, Calum’s phone buzzed with a text, he jumped up and said, “Sorry guys, gotta go! Ashton’s here,” before shooting the boys a smile and dashing out Michael’s front  door.  
“Who’s Ashton?” Luke asked.  
“Cal’s boyfriend. He’s a year ahead of us. I thought everyone knew.”  
“Guess not.”  
  
  
Michael expected the usual, silent dinner with his mum. Instead, he was quite embarrassed to see his mother bombard Luke with questions, ranging from small things like what foods he didn’t eat, to things that had Luke sporting a bright blush (“please don’t bring girls into my house” “MOM!” “What?” “DON’T!” “It’s just the rules Michael”).  
  
  
After dinner, Michael and Luke were back in Michael’s room, “sorry for the twenty questions from my mom, jeez,” Michael said, rubbing the back of his neck.  
“It’s alright,” Luke said with a giggle. Michael thought Luke had a cute giggle but erased the thought from his mind before it could mean anything.  
There was an honestly quite _awkward_ silence between the boys - Calum had been the big talker - before Michael took a deep breath. “So, I guess I’ll just tell you since Cal brought it up earlier,” he began, making eye contact with Luke before looking back down to his blue socks, “so BASICALLY, I’m asexual. Do you know what that means?” He looked back up at the younger boy to see him shaking his head no. “It means I’m not sexually attracted to anyone. Like. At all. Along with that, I think I’m panromantic. That means I’m romantically attracted to anyone, regardless of gender identity. So now you know.”  
Luke looked somewhat overwhelmed. “Okay, uh. Thanks for telling me,” he breathed out with a smile.  
“Please don’t tell anyone else. The only people who know other than you are Ashton and Calum.” Luke simply nodded.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, chapter one and two were just going to be one chapter, but I didn't like how long it was, so I split it in half. B)

_W/C: 1017_

The moon was full that night and the light from it, paired with his shitty curtains, kept Michael up way past two that night. He was stuck sitting in his room with only his thoughts, which was something he tried his best to avoid. He thought of anything and everything; although the most common thought was, _what happened today?_ The boy he absolutely _loathed_ was now his kinda-friend, was living with him, and had a cute giggle. The boy knew his _sexuality,_ for crying out loud! That was something he only shared with his closest friends, the ones he knew wouldn’t tell him that he “just hasn’t met the right person yet!” He and Luke started the day worse than strangers and now knew each other’s deepest secrets.  
  
  
When Michael finally drifted to sleep, he had a nightmare. He always had a nightmare on the full moon, and it was always basically the same: somehow, word got out around school of his sexuality. People teased him, pushed him, told him he was confused. He couldn’t reply, instead fell to the floor, shaking with fear and anxiety. Nobody showed him mercy, not even Calum. He always woke up in the fetal position with tears streaming down his face.  
  
  
This morning was no different. In his morning shower, Michael washed the dried tears off his cheeks and tried his best to calm his red, puffy eyelids. The result, however, was barely noticeable and he stayed locked in his room for another half hour.  
After nibbling on a small breakfast and brushing his teeth, Michael and Luke waved goodbye to Michael’s mother and started their small walk to school. “Are you excited for the weekend?” Luke asked casually.  
“I guess so. I don’t do very much but usually Calum and Ash come over, so that’s cool.” Michael replied quietly. Luke just nodded, unsure of how to continue the conversation. He didn’t really have friends, Michael knew this, because he was a very shy boy who didn’t know how to carry on a decent conversation.  
They walked the last three minutes to school in near-silence, the only sounds being those of nature.  
School went as it usually would, the three boys had music together as the last class of the day and when the bell rang, Calum smiled at Michael and Luke before saying, “see you guys tonight,” and sprinting away to meet Ashton at his locker.  
Ashton and Calum arrived right after dinner, not bothering to knock before they let themselves into Michael’s bedroom, where he and Luke were playing Fifa. “Hey,” he complained, “we could have been doing something really gross when you walked in! Why didn’t you knock?”  
Ash laughed, “we never knock!” Michael glared and Ash ignored him, instead turning to Luke and extending a hand, “Hi! I’m Ashton!”  
“Luke,” they small boy replied, shaking the older boy’s outstretched hand. Ashton smiled, settling down on the floor between Luke and Cal, who had sat next to Michael.  
  
  
The night carried on, the boys cracking jokes and just being boys, before Calum sighed, “so how’s this sleeping thing gonna work? Cause, usually, Ash and I just share the guest bed, but now _Luke_ is there.”  
Michael stopped to think for a moment. “I guess,” he began, “Someone will share with me.”  
“Okay but who will be sharing with Luke?” Ashton asked, “not trying to be rude or anything, it’s just that we all barely know you!” Luke nodded, feeling overwhelmed and kind of guilty.  
“Why don’t we just let Luke choose who he wants to share with? Like, who he feels most comfortable with,” Cal suggested. Everyone agreed and turned to look at Luke.  
“Oh, God,” he mumbled, “uh. I guess. I dunno! I feel like I know Mikey and Calum _equally!”_  
“Oh my GOD,” Michael whined, “just share with me and the two loverboys can be together.” Luke stayed silent and watched as Calum punched Michael’s shoulder.  
“Are you cool with that?” Ashton asked, turning to Luke. The small boy nodded. “Then it’s settled.”  
Cal and Ash went off to the guest room soon after, and Luke and Michael awkwardly climbed into Michael’s Double sized bed, only a few centimetres between the two boys.  
“Goodnight,” Michael whispered.  
“Goodnight,” Luke whispered back.  
They both fell asleep within ten minutes.  
  
  
Michael woke up to the sound of muffled giggling and Calum whispering, “shush, Ash! You’ll wake them up!” He forced his eyes open and saw that somehow, he and Luke had wrapped together in their sleep. The covers were pushed down to their ankles and it was obvious to anyone who walked into the room that their legs were tangled together, along with Mikey’s arms around Luke’s torso and the younger boy resting his head on Michael’s shoulder. There was literally no way for Michael to get up without waking Luke. He looked at his friends and groaned when he saw that Ashton had his phone out, obviously taking a photo of the cuddling boys. “Shit, Mikey’s awake!” Cal whispered again.  
“Yeah, I’m awake. How do I get him _off_ of me?”  
Ashton laughed, “just shake him off! Your mom made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.” Upon hearing of food, Michael’s stomach growled and he sighed, attempting to untangle his legs from Luke’s and waking the younger boy in the process.  
“What happened?” Luke asked, still half asleep.  
“I have no idea,” Michael muttered, finally free of cuddly limbs. “My mum made breakfast though.”  
  
Michael texted Calum on Thursday night, ‘cal i think i hv a problem’  
Cal replied, ‘do u need me 2 come ovr?’  
‘no do u think we cud meet @ the park?’  
Five minutes later, Michael found Calum swinging at the park between their houses.  
“Are you okay, man?” Calum asked.  
“Physically I’m fine. Mentally, I suppose I’m fine too. I’m more just _confused_ , I guess, but before I tell you, I need you to promise you’ll keep it a secret. Not even Ash can know.”  
“Cross my heart and hope to die,” Calum swore.  
“I think I might like Luke.”


	3. Chapter 3

_W/C: 1251_

Saturday, Calum and Ashton went over again. At around 11 p.m, they sat in a circle and decided to play truth or dare.  
“Luke!” Cal said excitedly, “truth or dare?”  
“Truth,” Luke mumbled. Although everyone considered him a friend now, it still felt _weird_ hanging out with people.  
“B _ooooring_ ,” Calum sang with a smile, “what - or who - made you realise you were bi?” Luke’s eyes widened, and Michael was sure he saw the younger boys eyes flick to him before staring down at his own feet.  
Maybe it was just his imagination.  
“I-I dunno,” Luke stuttered, “I just knew. How did you know?”  
“I thought I was straight until Ash got dared to kiss me in the hallway,” Calum explained, grin on his face, “we both got sent to the principal’s office but I think it was worth it.”  
“It absolutely was,” Ashton said with a matching smile.  
Michael fake-gagged, “you guys are gross. Luke, it’s your turn to ask someone!”  
They continued the game for _at least_ two hours before retiring to bed, same arrangements as the week before.  
  
  
Luke and Michael once again woke up cuddled together, although not as intensely as last time. “Why does this keep happening,” Michael moaned. Luke laughed, eyes crinkling and straight, white teeth visible. Michael thought he was beautiful like that.  
  
  
Calum told Michael to “stop being a baby and tell him already,” a week and a half later. Michael called him “batshit crazy.”  
  
  
The next day, Friday, Calum told Michael that he and Ash wouldn’t be coming over that weekend. “It’s our six month,” he said with a wink. Michael wrinkled his nose and told them to have fun. When he and Luke walked back from school, Michael told the younger boy that their friends weren’t coming over that weekend.  
Luke sighed, “lame,” he muttered.  
“Totally” Michael said with a slight grin.  
“What’re we gonna do all weekend?”  
Michael groaned, “I have no idea.”  
  
  
Saturday morning, Luke walked into the kitchen at noon, hair messy from just waking up, and began to make himself a sandwich. “Morning, sleepy head,” Michael teased, “cute hair.”  
Luke laughed, “are you hitting on me?” He meant it as a joke, but Michael felt his stomach drop.  
“I would _never!”_ He replied with a smile, hoping Luke didn’t notice his small pause.  
“Whatever, Clifford. I’m _way_ out of your league.”  
“Shut up. What do you wanna do today?”  
“I dunno...I was thinking I might go see my mum today. Maybe she’s cooled down and I can go back,” Luke said a little awkwardly.  
Michael couldn’t help but to be slightly let down. If Luke went back home, they might stop hanging out! He was getting used to the smaller boy sleeping just across the hall from him, “Oh. Okay,” he mumbled, trying to hide the sadness in his voice.  
“Will you come with me?”  
“Of course.”  
  
They went to Luke’s house an hour later, hoping for good luck. Michael knocked on the door and then stepped back, next to Luke, and waited for the younger boy’s mother to answer.  
When she opened the door and saw Luke, her eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here,” she growled, “I told you I never wanted to see you again!”  
“I was hoping you had...I dunno. Cooled down, I guess. It was dumb. Sorry,” Luke stuttered out.  
“Who’s this? Did you manage to make a friend?” She spat. Turning to Michael, she said, “you know he’s a fag right? A worthless fag.”  
Michael took a step back, not expecting to be spoken to. “Please...please don’t use that word,” he mumbled pathetically.  
She scoffed, “I guess you’re one too. Is that how you two met? Some teenage gloryhole? Fuckin’ queers.”  
Luke turned to Michael, tears rimming his eyes. “Let’s go,” he whispered, grabbing Michael’s arm and pulling him away from the door.  
  
  
They sat in Michael’s room, on Michael’s bed, with Luke’s face in Michael’s shoulder. His shirt was becoming tear-stained, but he didn’t mind. It was old and worn out anyway. Luke mumbled, “I’m sorry,” and, “I wanna nap,” into Michael’s chest.  
“Do you wanna go to the guest bed or stay here?”  
“I wanna stay here,” he whispered, “please stay with me.”  
“Of course.”  
They switched positions so they were laying under the blanket, already cuddled together.  
“Thanks, Mikey.”  
Michael’s mum went to get to boys for dinner, but upon seeing them cuddled together, left them to sleep.  
  
  
One week later, Michael’s mum pulled him aside after dinner, “when’s he leaving?” She asked in a hushed tone.  
“What?”  
“Well, he’s been here a month! I don’t have a problem with him being here, but shouldn’t he see his parents?”  
“We tried that,” Michael explained, “it didn’t really work out.”  
  
  
Michael woke up on Tuesday morning, reciting his rules in his head, but something felt off. He combed through his hair, trying to figure out what was wrong.  
It was the rules. There was something wrong with his rules. He glared at himself in the mirror, _my rules are perfect,_ he thought, _why am I having an issue with them?_ He whispered aloud to the mirror, “there’s no such thing as too much pizza, always choose a booth over a table, and-” he cut himself short. He knew the third rule, _love is bullshit._ He said it over and over in his head, _love is bullshit, love is bullshit, love is bullshit,_ but he couldn’t make the words come out of his mouth. He glared at his reflection, asked himself “why,” and stomped out of the bathroom to make toast.  
  
  
Wednesday evening, Michael and Luke walked to the park. It was drizzling out and Michael’s hair was getting wet but Luke wanted to go to the park and Michael couldn’t say no. They sat on the swings, toes buried in the gravel and they lightly pushed themselves back and forth. The only sounds to be heard was rain on pavement and the squeak of the swing set. Luke stopped his swinging and turned to face Michael, “Look, I asked you to come here with me for a reason and I wanna just _do it_ before I lose my confidence _again,”_ he said quickly. Michael stopped swinging and nodded for Luke to continue.  
The small boy sighed, “so, basically, I’m gonna tell you something kind of important and you might hate for it and, if you do, it’s okay and if you want me to leave your house, that’s okay too and I’ll do it. Um. Basically. I kinda like you? Like a lot, actually. Like you were the reason I realised I was bi and it was kinda making me sad cause, like, you hated me so I thought it was just gonna be one of those dumb crushes that go away after a while. Y’know those ones? But then you were nice to me after you saw what my mum did, and then we became friends! And now we’re really close so I felt like I should tell you. If it makes you uncomfortable to be friends with me anymore, it’s cool.”  
Michael was shocked into silence. “Oh,” he managed.  
“I’m sorry.”  
“What? Why? Don’t be! Oh my God.” Michael’s hair stuck to his forehead and he pushed it out of the way before continuing, “Calum has been harassing me to tell you for weeks now but I’m too chicken, but you just. Wow. You just _did it!”  
_ "...Oh."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of an awkward ending I know, sorry. :))


	4. Chapter 4

_W/C: 838_

Michael and Luke told Ashton and Calum that they’re together at lunch on Thursday. Cal screamed a little bit and Michael slapped him. “It’s not a big deal,” Luke said bashfully.  
“It _absolutely_ is! I have seen this coming for _ages_ and it’s finally happened!” Ashton exclaimed.  
“Shut the fuck up, no you haven’t,” Michael said with a frown.  
“I have! You two are so oblivious!”  
“Who asked who out?” Calum asked excitedly.  
“He did,” Michael said with a fond smile.  
“Hell yeah! You owe me twenty bucks!” Calum said to Ashton with a smile, holding his hand out.  
“Did you really make a _bet?”_ Luke asked quietly.  
“I wouldn’t doubt it, these fuckers bet on _everything.”_  
  
  
\---  
  
  
Two weeks later, school ended. Calum and Ash went over to Michael’s house. It was _almost_ the same as every other weekend, the only difference being Ashton teasing Luke and Mikey about how “cute and cuddly and _coupley”_ they were being. Luke always blushed at that and Michael always landed a punch to somewhere on Ashton’s body.  
  
  
\---  
  
  
On their one-month anniversary, they shared their first kiss. They were at a park, sitting at the base of a leafy tree, when Michael said, “this might sound really girly and gross, but I think you’re beautiful, Luke.”  
Luke looked up at the older boy, eyes sparkling, “really?”  
“Absolutely,” he replied with a wide grin. Luke returned the smile before he brought their lips together. Michael thought it was cheesy that their lips fit perfectly together  
  
  
\---  
  
  
They were sitting in Calum’s basement one day when Ash said, “we should start a band.”  
“...that’s a great idea,” Luke said enthusiastically.  
“It would be, but - does anyone even know how to play bass?” Michael asked.  
Calum piped up, “I could learn? I’m sure it isn’t too hard.”  
So they did.  
  
  
\---  
  
  
“Is Luke ever going to leave?”  
“No, mom.”  
Michael’s mum paused before sighing, “okay. I guess I don’t have to tell you guys to be quiet and safe.”  
“Mom! Gross!”  
“I’m glad you’re ace, Mikey.”  
“Oh my god.”  
  
  
\---  
  
  
They had their first big fight nine months later. They were on tour, which made it worse;  they had no way to avoid each other. “Please stop fighting,” Calum asked Michael one day, “it’s really getting me down. Also, Ash and I think the fans are starting to notice.”  
Michael sighed, “honestly, it’s just...it’s so dumb.”  
“Then _talk_ to him.”  
Michael nodded and walked out of the back lounge, into the bunk area, and climbed into Luke’s bunk. Luke looked up from his phone, noticed Michael, and went back to his phone.  
“Luke...please,” Michael whispered, “I’m so sorry.”  
“Yeah?”  
“Yeah. I really don’t like fighting with you. I don’t like not being able to talk to you, and staying in separate rooms from you, and I’m just really really sorry. I never want to fight with you ever ever again.”  
Luke pulled Michael into his arms, “it’s okay, Mikey. I love you.”  
“I love you too.”  
  
  
\---  
  
  
They were doing a twitcam one day, a year and a half later, when Michael accidentally kissed Luke. It wasn’t as if they had never kissed before, of course they had, but they hadn’t come out to the fans about their relationship. The text box went crazy, people typing “OH MY GOD DID THAT JUST HAPPEN” and, “OH DEAR LORD I KNEW IT!”  
“Guys, you ruined the twitcam!” Ashton complained with a laugh, “but it’s okay, we were leaving anyway. See you guys!” He and the rest of the band waved to the camera before stopping the broadcast.  
“I’m sorry,” Michael said halfheartedly.  
“It’s cool, talk to your boyfriend,” Ashton replied firmly, dragging Calum out of the room.  
Luke waited until the doors were closed before saying, “it’s fine. Honest. I wanted to tell them soon anyway.”  
“Really?”  
Luke smiled and pulled Michael in for a hug, whispering, “really.”  
  
  
 **“5 Seconds of Summer @5sos**  
 **If you didn’t hear the news, Me and Luke are dating :) -mikey”**  
  
  
Almost all the interviews for the next month were about Luke and Michael’s newly announced relationship, but they didn’t mind much. One interview was particularly funny, as they were answering questions sent in through twitter by the fans, and someone said, “mikey and luke r together - when r cal and ash gonna do it?”  
“Guess we forgot to tell you,” Ashton laughed, “sorry!”  
The interviewer was obviously shocked as she asked, “sorry, what?”  
“Ash and I have been dating since before Luke and Mikey,” Calum said with a smile.  
“I forgot that people didn’t just _know,”_ Luke smiled, “you learn something new every day, I guess!”  
  
  
\--  
  
  
As expected, they got a fair share of homophobic-centric hate, but it was nothing they couldn’t handle. For every hate filled comment, they had ten supportive ones. They even had some fans who said that Mikey coming out as asexual had helped them to realise that they were, too. The boys were just glad to have such supportive fans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 100% filler, I just wanted to add a little bit more to it before the big ending or whatever. Super shitty ending, sorry for that as well.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter!! It's super cheesy but it's alright I think; everyone loves cheesy. Originally, the last two chapters were together, but I decided to change it when I switched from past to present tense.

_W/c: 367_

Today is their three year anniversary. Michael can feel the simple gold band burning a hole in his pocket. His (hopefully) soon-to-be-finacé should be home any minute and Michael is worried that maybe it isn’t fancy enough. He’s not a very fancy guy - neither is Luke - but a proposal feels like something that he should be spending more time working on. He hears the door unlock and his stomach ties in knots. He’s just gonna do it. He’s going to have to impress Luke with his words.  
Luke walks up the stairs and pulls Michael in for a kiss, “Happy anniversary!”  
“Happy anniversary,” Michael returns, “can I ask you something?”  
“Shoot.”  
“Right. Okay, so, I don’t really know how to word it without sounding like an absolute loser, so just stick with me okay?” Luke nods. “Um. Basically, Luke, I’ve loved you for three whole years and I’ve started a band with you and I feel like I’ve seen you grow up with me, y’know? You’re one of the first people who ever knew I was asexual and you’re one of the few people who accepted it and didn’t love me any less because of it. I love you because you never try to pressure me into things and you don’t try to tell me what to do, or how to act, or who to hang out with. I love you because when I’m sad, you always make me happy and when I need someone, you’re always there. I love you because I’m nowhere near perfect but you show me that’s okay. You’re way out of my league, Luke Hemmings, but you still love me and I’ll never know why but I’ll always love you too and,” he stops to pull out the ring, “will you please marry me?”  
Luke smiles this big smile and wipes a tear off his cheek, nodding yes and pressing his lips to Michael’s once again. “Yes of course! Of course I’ll marry you, Michael Clifford, I love you, I love you, I love you!” He exclaims. Michael can’t stop smiling as he slips the ring on Luke’s finger and rests his head on the taller boy’s shoulder.  
“Thank you.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own 5sos or anything like that B)) thanks for reading!!

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously I don't think Michael is ace oh man there just isn't enough asexual representation ever and I felt like adding some so yeah B)  
> I don't think Luke's mum is emotionally abusive whatsoever and I think that, if Luke happened to like boys and decided to come out, she would be one hundred percent supportive; I just needed to make her nasty for the story to work.


End file.
